1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical position sensor and, more specifically, to an optical position sensor for optically sensing the position of a movable object.
2. Description of the Related Art
Known sensors for sensing the position of an object, for example, the position of a mechanical actuator, typically include electro-mechanical or electromagnetic components for converting mechanical movements of the object into corresponding electrical signals. Such sensor designs are disadvantageous for many applications because they are susceptible to unwanted electromagnetic interference, current or voltage surges, and electro-static arcing. Electro-mechanical components may also be vulnerable to dirt, corrosion, vibration and wear.
More recently, optical position sensors have gained favor in part because they generally alleviate the drawbacks of electromagnetic and electro-mechanical devices such as those noted above. The applicability of these devices has generally been somewhat limited, however, since they typically include electro-optic components that may also be susceptible to the phenomena described above, and because they tend to be expensive, complex, and difficult to calibrate, operate and maintain.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an optical position sensor for sensing the position of a movable object, the sensor being simple in design and operation, and alleviating adverse effects such as those described above.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.